


The Lost Outrealm Royals

by SgtLeppard



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Invisible Kingdom | Revelation Route, Other, Secret Identity, Spoilers for Birthright and Conquest, i don't know what possessed me to write this i'm so sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 12:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8401810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SgtLeppard/pseuds/SgtLeppard
Summary: When four war-weary royals, each one from a different Outrealm, travel together and hop from realm to realm, one wonders why they've run away from home, and what it is they're searching for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, this is another idea that bounced around my head. I wasn't intending it to be multichapter, but I didn't want things to get too long. Hopefully you guys enjoy and can make sense of this mess. I haven't been to sleep yet :'D

How long had it been? Weeks? Months? Years even? To be honest, Sakura isn't sure. All she knew was that she had been away from Hoshido for a long time. But so had Takumi. And Leon and Elise were far from Nohr as well. Each of them remembered the war differently. It was only natural since all of them hailed from their own individual Outrealms. The Takumi she travelled with was not the same Takumi she grew up with. The war may have had a similar outcome for the both of them -- Kamui leaving them behind for Nohr, leaving Hoshido in ruins and without its crown prince -- but certain parts were different. While she remembered Takumi dying, slain by Kamui's sword, he remembered Sakura being in his place.

It was worse for Leon and Elise. In Leon's case, Xander and Elise -- the ones he knew -- had died just outside the throne room in Castle Krackenburg. Elise hadn't wanted to see her siblings fighting and stepped in, at the cost of her life. Xander had then forced Kamui, who had chosen Hoshido over Nohr, to kill him. When all was said and done, Camilla turned her back and left him by himself to rule Nohr. But what about the Elise they were with currently? Simple. Xander was still gone and Leon still ruled, but it was Camilla who had stepped in. Elise had sorely wanted to stay by her brother's side to help, but he paid her no heed. She had no choice but to leave.

Really, if they were asked why they left their homes, they would each give different answers. Sakura would say that she couldn't stand seeing her homeland in the state it was in and opted for greener pastures. Takumi would say that every meeting with the Nohrian delegation, seeing Kamui amongst them, twisted a rusty knife into his gut every time and wished to never see her again, lest that feeling return. Leon would say that the stress of being the King of Nohr was too much to handle and wanted to be free of those responsibilities. Elise would say that she felt like a burden and was of no use to her devastated homeland. But a common answer they would all give was that they searched for true peace.

Selfish reasons, all of them. It took some time, but they eventually came to acknowledge that they had abandoned their countries and their families -- what was left of them, anyway -- for those selfish reasons. For all intents and purposes, they should've returned to their respective Outrealms the moment they realised it, but they continued on. Why?

For Sakura, for the warmth she used to give off to return. She had become so cold after the war.

For Takumi, to repent for all the sins he committed. Every time Kamui had visited, he felt nothing but guilt.

For Leon, for the tight-knit family dynamic he lost. A dynamic he had partially regained with his Outrealm companions.

For Elise, to be able to smile so brightly and be playful again. The war had taken her innocence.

Together, they vowed to find a truly peaceful realm to stay. Would they find one where Hoshido and Nohr were at true peace? Where there was no war? If there was war, one where they fought together instead of against each other? This was what kept the four of them together. They had each set out individually to find such a realm before running into each other. If the end goal was the same, why not get there together?

With each Outrealm they went to, they all stuck together. Many thought that they were a small band of bandits, but that was far from the case. If anything, according to Leon, they had become a group of wayward mercenaries. Maybe so. But regardless, there was nothing that could separate them.

But their unlikely alliance and loyalty to each other came with questions that often went unspoken and unanswered. That was, until Elise's curious nature decided to step in.

"You know, I've always wondered," she asked, roasting a marshmallow on their campfire. "We're all from opposing kingdoms that were on the losing end of the war. How is it that we don't resent each other?"

Takumi furrowed his brow in thought. "That's a good question, Elise." They've long since dropped the honourifics. None of them felt worthy of being called royalty anymore. "I didn't really think about that before."

"To be honest, I don't think any of us have," Leon chimed in.

"I think," Sakura said slowly, "we don't resent each other because not only are we not from the same realm, but it's as Elise said. In each of our realms, we lost the war."

Leon nodded. "You're right. That means that we all know what it's like to have been betrayed by someone we called our sister, and what results of it. One country the victor, with a newly crowned king. The other, practically razed to the ground and losing half of its royal family."

"It always seems to be Xander and Ryouma," Takumi mused. "Every Outrealm we've seen, one or the other is dead along with one of us or our sisters. Anyone find that odd?"

Everyone nodded. "If only we could find a realm where none of us died," the youngest of the group spoke morosely. The poor girl. She tried to remain positive, as was her nature, but even she was beginning to lose hope of finding a peaceful realm to settle in.

"Hey." Takumi leaned over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "We'll find one. If it takes us years more to find one, then so be it. It'll be worth it in the end."

Leon nodded, then added, "And I'm thinking it might be sooner than we expect." All eyes drew up towards him. "I was scouting out another Outrealm this morning--"

"So that's where you disappeared to," Sakura giggled.

"Yes. Anyway," he continued, "the Outrealm I scouted out seems promising."

"No troops?"

"Unfortunately yes, but I did catch a few familiar faces having banded together." He shrugged. "Pretty ragtag group, if you ask me."

"Why do I have the feeling that Kamui is leading them?" And there's Takumi's old friend guilt.

Leon hesitated a moment. "She is." Everyone was aware of each other's grievances with Kamui, but Takumi's issues were the worst. It was the main reason why she was rarely ever brought up. No one wanted to be the one to reopen nasty old wounds for him. "However, the group she was with included both you and Sakura, as well as Camilla."

The others were shocked. "What?"

"Big sister Camilla?"

"Mmhm, and you had just joined them too," the former Nohrian king added with a smile. "If we leave for the Outrealm tomorrow morning, we could possibly meet up with them in Cheve."

"Cheve?" Sakura asked. "Did you see them there?"

"No," he replied, "Port Dia. But they're headed there. If we hurry first thing in the morning... best case scenario, we'll get there soon after they do."

"I say we do it," Elise piped up. "This is the first solid clue we've had to finding somewhere to stay permanently where everyone's working together. If there's even a sliver of a chance, we should take it."

Takumi smiled. "Agreed."

"Definitely," Sakura said excitedly.

"Then that settles it." Leon placed a marshmallow on another stick, then watched the Hoshidan siblings do the same. "Bright and early, we leave for Cheve! And this time, we find the peace we've been searching for all these years!" He held up his stick, as if raising a toast. "For peace!"

"For peace!"

So it had been years. Sakura remembered now as she chewed on her newly roasted marshmallow. Four years. Four long years that they had been together and away from their war-torn homes. Four years of unlikely companionship and bonding. Four years of protecting each other as a brand new family.

Four years of searching for peace that will finally come to an end.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The "family" of four travel to Cheve in the Outrealm in a bid to join Kamui's army.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's a quick chapter 2!

Morning could not come quick enough and it was hard to fall asleep. They were all anxious to move out that they barely got any rest. But finally morning came. Pulling their hoods up and gathering what supplies they could, they quickly left for the Outrealm Leon had talked about the night before. Elise remarked on how she could almost taste the peace they'd searched for. Really, they all could. But they made sure not to lollygag. When it came to that peace and how small their window of opportunity was, they could not afford to waste time.

The sounds of weapons clanging against each other drew the group's attention. "Sounds like a battle," Takumi spoke. "And it seems to be coming from where Cheve is."

"Then it seems we've arrived just in time." Leon reached a hand over to pull Sakura up onto his horse whilst Takumi climbed up behind Elise on her own horse. "First things first, we find Kamui. Knowing how she is, she'll likely accept us into her army if we offer our services. However..." He turned his gaze to Takumi. "It's best to not use Brynhildr or Fujin Yumi."

Takumi nodded. "Good point. It'll draw suspicion."

"If anything, they should be used sparingly and only as a last resort. The last thing Kamui's army needs is to find out they have doppelgangers in their midst." Leon smiled, his first genuine smile in a long time. "Peace is just within our reach. Let's go!"

\----------

Kamui wasn't too hard to find. Her armour stood out, and she was the only dragon of the army. The only problem was getting to her. There were numerous forces to fight through and it took everything Leon had to not pull Brynhildr out and start casting spells. Instead, he opted for his sword while Sakura shot away distant threats with her yumi. They made a good team. Takumi and Elise made a good team as well. Elise using her tomes to set enemies ablaze whilst Takumi swung at nearby enemies with his katana, occasionally switching to his yumi to snipe enemy archers before they could let off a single arrow that could hurt her. And despite the chaos of the battle, they managed to stay close.

Eventually they reached the dragon princess. "Princess Kamui!" Leon called out to her. He was often delegated as the group speaker when dealing with strangers. Kamui might not have been a stranger to them, but this Kamui certainly was. What exactly had she done differently to change the course of events where both Hoshidan and Nohrian alike were fighting alongside each other? Maybe he'd ask her at some point -- if he got that far, that is.

\----------

Upon hearing her name being called, Kamui turned to see the small group, unable to make out their faces underneath their hoods. She kept her grip tentatively on Yato. "Was it you who called for me?"

"Yes," the man she assumed to be the leader had answered. "I and my family wish to aid you in your cause, milady."

She gasped. "You do!?"

He nodded. "We would be glad to fight for you, should you give the order."

That was definitely an offer she couldn't pass up. What with the issue of the invisible mastermind behind the war, she needed all the allies she could get. But she couldn't help but think that the man's voice sounded familiar. Déjà vu maybe? "Absolutely, sir," she responded. "I cannot thank you enough. But, um... may I have your names? And maybe see your faces? It's hard to tell under those cloaks of yours."

"I apologise, Lady Kamui, but I'm afraid the hoods are necessary."

This confused her, not to mention raising a couple of red flags. "Why is that?"

"A personal reason that must remain private." Now that she thought about it, he sounded a little like Leon if he was a couple of years older. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. "However, we will gladly give you our names. My name is Max. That is my brother, Jonathan." He gestured towards the man on the other horse. "And these are my sisters Theresa--" He patted the girl's shoulder in front of him. "--and Charley." The man named Jonathan lightly patted Charley's head.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," Kamui said. "Hopefully we can talk more later. Right now, there are too many enemies. If you could, rout as many as you can."

"Certainly." Without another word, the small family bounded off to fight in her name. She certainly hoped she could truly trust them. Mainly, she just hoped Takumi wouldn't pitch a fit over allowing total strangers who would not show their faces.

\----------

Finally, they'd done it. They were finally in Kamui's ragtag army, albeit under different names. Elise allowed herself a rare smile. They were one step closer to peace, and one step closer to ending to mental torment they all suffer. No more hopping from Outrealm to Outrealm. When everything was over, they could finally settle down and enjoy a real peace like a real family. The peace they truly deserved.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

"For now," Takumi answered, "we follow Kamui's orders."

"But do we have to fight in another war?" Elise whined.

Takumi sighed and patted her arm. "At least this time, it will be different. We'll be the victors this time. We'll finally know what it's like to actually win this godsforsaken war." Loathe as he was to admit it, he sincerely hoped that Kamui would pull through this time. Before, he had wished for her failure. But that was in the past now. This was a different Kamui. All of their hopes were riding on her leading them to victory.

But for now, these pesky enemy soldiers needed to be dispatched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leon is Max, Takumi is Jonathan, Sakura is Theresa, and Elise is Charley. Don't ask why I went with those names. To be honest, I don't know either


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The "family" has a question that needs answering. Elise takes it upon herself to ask it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one focuses the most on Elise's POV. For future reference, if the POV follows any of the core four, their other selves will be referenced with "Prince" or "Princess" before their names in the narrative

The Astral Plane was amazing. It was great to finally see what Kamui's army got up to when they weren't marching. Seeing so many members of both the Hoshidan and Nohrian armies interacting and being at least somewhat friendly gave Elise hope. It had only been a few days since she and her "family" of sorts had joined the army and she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit more like herself. _Yes,_ she thought. _This is definitely the realm we've been searching for._

Of course, while that may possibly be true, there was still one question unanswered. And someone needed to ask it of their fearless leader. That someone was going to be her.

Gazing off, she could see the other Elise playing with her kite, smiling and giggling. _I used to be her,_ Elise forlornly thought. She, as well as the others, had reservations about talking to their other selves, but it's not like they had travelled back in time and their every move could change history. Besides, if anyone knew where to find Kamui, it would be her.

Carefully, she walked up to her other self. "Lady Elise?" Wow, she didn't realise how weird it would be to talk to herself like this.

Princess Elise turned towards her. "Oh hey! You're Charley, right?"

Elise nodded, feeling a little bad for lying.

"Heehee, yay!" Princess Elise jumped up and down. "Big sister Kamui mentioned new recruits, but every time I tried to talk with your siblings, they all said they were busy." Somehow, this didn't surprise Elise. "So did you wanna play with me? I know a lot of great games we can play!"

That was something Elise definitely knew, and she knew just exactly what games her double had in mind. "Actually, I was wondering where Lady Kamui was. I needed to ask her something." Knowing her double would be a little saddened to know she hadn't come to play, she quickly added, "But I can come back afterwards and we can play." In fact, that would be a nice reprieve and remind her of simpler times.

"You really would? Thanks!" Princess Elise beamed. "I think she should be in the mess hall. It is lunchtime already, but don't worry," the princess winked. "I already ate."

"That's good," Elise replied. "Thank you, Lady Elise. I'll try to be back soon!"

"I'll be waiting!"

\----------

A good number of the army's members were in the mess hall. Seeing so much camaraderie and smelling such delicious food coming from the kitchens would've made her stomach rumble and she would rush to grab some food and interact with as many people as she could. But that was such a long time ago. Now, she simply kept to herself, with only her Outrealm "family" to keep her company. They never ate at the same time the others did, and if they did, they ate elsewhere, keeping their distance from the others.

She spotted Kamui at one of the tables, Jakob sitting by her side. _Brave face, Elise. You can do this._ As calmly as possible, she walked over towards the pair. "Lady Kamui?"

Kamui glanced up from her meal. "Oh, Charley!"

Elise smiled. "Thanks for remembering." _For remembering my fake name._

"Don't worry," Kamui said. "Every new member that comes in, I make it a point to commit names and faces to memory. Well, in your case, name and cloak. It's a very pretty cloak."

"Thank you, Lady Kamui." As a way to tell each other apart, she and the others wore different coloured cloaks. Sakura's was red, Takumi's blue, Leon's brown, and her own a dark purple. "Um, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment."

Kamui smiled. "Of course! Sit down."

"In private, please." The last thing Elise needed was to have Jakob's scrutinising eye on her.

"Oh, sure!"

"Milady, are you sure about that?" The skepticism was already clear in the butler's voice.

"Come on, Jakob, don't be such a worrywart."

Jakob gazed at Elise with veiled suspicion before sighing. "I'll be close by." With that, he got up and left the two alone at the table.

Once he was gone, Kamui patted the seat next to her, inviting the former princess of Nohr to sit by her. "So what did you want to speak to me about, Charley?"

Now was her chance. "Well, me and my family, we heard about what happened on the plains of Hoshido--" _Because we were there._ "--and we wanted to know, which country did you align yourself with?" She hoped it didn't come off as odd.

"I didn't align with anyone."

Wait what? "You didn't side with either?"

Kamui shook her head. "How can I fight my birth family or the family that raised me ever since I could remember? I couldn't do it. So I decided to remain neutral, and Azura showed me that there was someone working behind the scenes and pushing both countries towards war."

This was definitely new and Elise needed to hear everything. "Who? Where?"

"Eesh, um, that's the problem," Kamui grimaced. "I can't tell."

Elise's eyebrows furrowed underneath her hood. "Can't tell? How come?"

"Well, I can't tell anyone about it." She quickly added, "Not that I shouldn't tell anyone, I _can't_ tell anyone. Does that make sense?"

Elise thought for a moment before a light went off in her head. "You're saying that what you know about this person is stuff you can't talk about or else something bad will happen?"

Kamui sighed with relief. "Finally someone gets it."

"Well, could you tell me what you can?" Already Elise had learned a lot, but this was still crucial information that would be more than useful to her and the others.

The dragon princess hummed. "I'm afraid there's not much that I can divulge. All I can tell you is that this person is in charge of a place I can't talk about, and this person is the reason Hoshido and Nohr are at war in the first place. I've been trying to gather as many allies as possible to combat this invisible assailant, and I'm extremely glad that Camilla, Elise, Sakura, and even Takumi of all people believe me. It's just getting Hinoka, Ryouma, Leon, and Xander to listen."

"Hopefully they will soon," Elise commented. "It seems like they'll be needed sorely."

Kamui nodded. She was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "May I ask you a couple of questions?"

Elise tensed up. Leon was typically better at answering questions while in the hot seat, but she would have to do the best she could without revealing who she and her party really were. "S-sure. What do you want to know?"

"For starters," Kamui began, "I wanted to know why you go by 'Charley'. Isn't that a boy's name?"

Yikes. She didn't quite think that far. She just thought the name sounded cute. Then she caught sight of Charlotte out of the corner of her eye. "I-it's short for 'Charlotte'," she answered, hoping she wasn't sweating profusely. Oh wait. Kamui can't see her face. "I've gone by 'Charley' since I was little. I had problems pronouncing 'Charlotte' correctly." Elise then gestured to the border guard, who was unaware of their conversation. "It'll be especially helpful now since she's got the same name as me."

Kamui giggled. "That's very true." She pondered something for a moment. "The other thing I want to know is about your family. Where did you grow up and why are you four by yourselves?"

This was not good. Elise wasn't the best liar ever. The best thing she could do was to tell the truth, but make omissions where needed. "To be honest, Lady Kamui," she started, "we're not actually all related to each other."

The dragon princess raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. Jonathan and Sak-- Theresa are siblings themselves, just like me and Max."

"But both sets of siblings aren't related," Kamui deduced. "I get it now!"

Elise nodded. "We were all orphaned years ago--" For all intents and purposes, they were. "--and all we had was each other. We all became so close that we might as well have been one big family, even if blood barely has a thing to do with it."

Smiling, Kamui cast a wistful look over towards where Camilla was sitting with her retainers. "I know how that feels." Elise knew as well, but said nothing.

"Well," the former princess said, standing, "I'd better get going. I promised myse-- um, Lady Elise a playdate."

"Alright, take care, Charley."

With a nod, Elise left the mess hall and searched for her double. _This will definitely take playing by yourself to a whole new level._ She'll have to tell the others what she learned later tonight.

\----------

Jakob warily watched Charley leave the building as he stepped back towards his sworn liege. "Milady, I believe there is something off about Miss Charley."

Kamui turned towards him, confused. "What do you mean? I mean, yeah, she's wearing a hood to hide her face, but I don't think she's particularly bad."

"I apologise, milady, if I insinuated that she is a potential spy in our ranks. What I am saying is that it is entirely possible that she may not be who she claims to be," he accused. "None of them are."

"Jakob!" Kamui nearly cried. "What are you talking about!?"

"Come along." Jakob quickly pulled Kamui over to a more quiet area of the mess hall to avoid causing a scene. Lowering his voice, he continued his earlier thought. "When Charley was talking about her family, it seemed like she slipped up with Theresa's name, and once again when mentioning Lady Elise."

Now that she thought about it...

_"Jonathan and Sak-- Theresa..."_

_"I promised myse-- um, Lady Elise a playdate."_

She did slip up. She almost called Theresa by another name -- but what name? -- and nearly said 'myself' when she was talking about Elise. What exactly did this mean? "I don't quite have a good feeling about this, Lady Kamui," Jakob spoke.

"Are you trying to say that Charley is someone else?" she asked. "That it's not her real name?"

"More than that," he replied. "In fact, as absurd as the thought is, I believe Charley is really..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had two references to base off of when it came to "Charley" being a nickname for Charlotte. The first is that there's a Doctor Who character whose name was Charlotte, but she instead went by Charley. The second is a somewhat loose reference to Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac. She had been unable to pronounce her full name [Stephanie] when she was little and thus the "Stevie" nickname was born


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takumi and Sakura meet with their doubles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this chapter took so long to come out. I've been busy with a lot of other shit, but here's the long awaited fourth chapter!

Takumi was the one who had suggested that the four of them keep their distance from the rest of the army during meal times. Not only would they be bombarded with questions that they may not be able to avoid answering, but he was certain that key members of the army, particularly the ninja, would be immediately suspicious of them, if they weren't already. On top of that, he suggested avoiding their doubles when possible to avoid further suspicion. It was originally supposed to be at all costs, but after Elise's impromptu playdate with Princess Elise, he figured a little leeway would be necessary. So long as people didn't catch on, it would be alright.

And that was also how he ended up in his present position. Prince Takumi had heard of his archery skills and challenged him. Really, he was basically challenging himself, but his double didn't know that, nor was he about to say anything about it.

So far, the two had limited themselves to using regular yumis, until Prince Takumi decided to bring out Fujin Yumi -- his, not Takumi's. _At least he still has the focus he needs._ It was very tempting to go get his own Fujin Yumi -- to think that there were now two of them existing in the same realm, never mind some distance of yards away from each other -- and show off, but he had to remind himself not to draw undue attention to himself. It was strange how he had wanted the attention of his siblings, especially Ryouma's, for so long, and now he shied away from it, all to keep a low profile. It didn't make any sense to him, but he tried not to think about it. Doing so would only give him a headache.

Prince Takumi made another perfect shot with his own Fujin Yumi. "Think you can top that?" he challenged. "Right in the center. Dead center."

 _Too easy._ Takumi drew his arrow back, aimed carefully, and fired. Dead center.

"Okay, how and why?" Prince Takumi was clearly exasperated at having been matched and, in essence, bested.

"Practise makes perfect, Lord Takumi." Takumi was about to pick up another arrow, but decided not to. "I think it's best to call it a day."

"Oh really?" That tone was a clear challenge, Takumi knew that all too well. "Scared you might miss the next one?"

"No," Takumi sighed. "I'm more worried about your mental wellbeing."

Prince Takumi raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it's supposed to mean, Lord Takumi," Takumi snapped. "You may not know this, but I know how you are, how you act, and how you think." In retrospect, maybe that last part could've been omitted, but really, he was talking to a younger version of himself. His double could stand to hear what he had to say. "Challenging others in a bid to best them because of your inferiority complex isn't doing you any good. I should know, I was just like you years ago." That much was definitely true. "Holding onto such notions is what led me to doing unspeakable things. Things that I am not proud of. The last thing I want is to see you be put in the same situation that I was in all because of your actions and thoughts."

Prince Takumi looked taken aback. This didn't come as a surprise to Takumi. After all, they were the same person. As his double floundered for words, Takumi packed up his yumi. "Think about that, milord. It'll help you in the long run."

\----------

Neither side, Elise had said the night before. Sakura was still wondering what exactly this meant for their mismatched "family". Elise had seemed optimistic that it meant they would finally have the peace they've been searching for, but Sakura still thought about who their enemy really was. If not Hoshido or Nohr, then who? It didn't seem to be Nestra, from what Leon observed, nor did they seem to be fighting invasion from a foreign power. The youngest of the group had said that Kamui couldn't tell her much without risking "something bad" happening. She and Leon both worried about what exactly was so sensitive that it would result in bad omens.

For now, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She had come across Princess Sakura practising on her koto. She stayed in the doorway, watching her double pluck at the strings. Though a moment later, she noticed she had company.

"O-oh! T-Theresa!" she exclaimed, plucking a wrong note in the process.

Sakura nervously chuckled. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have disturbed you."

"No no, i-it's alright!" Princess Sakura flushed in embarrassment. "C-can I h-help you?"

"I just happened to pass by and heard you playing," Sakura said. "You play really well, milady."

Her double flushed a deeper crimson. "T-thank you... W-would you like t-to hear m-more?"

Getting to hear the koto after so long was quite refreshing for the outcast princess. While she would like to play herself once again, it was very likely that she was out of practise after four years. But still, she wouldn't mind hearing more. "Sure," she nodded.

\----------

Kamui replayed Jakob's words to her from the day before for the umpteenth time. Personally, she didn't see how it was possible. Yes, she could get that the odd family weren't using their real names, but it had to be for a different reason than the convoluted one her butler came up with. Then again, he's served her faithfully for so many years. He had no reason to lie to her or tell her of some outlandish theory if he wasn't certain that the possibility existed.

Theresa had told her just a little while ago that she and her family were indeed from an Outrealm. Their village was ravaged by war and bandits, and with little else left for them there, they departed, hoping to start a new and better life. Maybe in leaving their home, they left their true names behind. In all honesty, the dragon princess couldn't blame them if so.

But then she thought about Jakob's theory. Suppose he was right. If so, then why were they here and not in the Outrealm they belong to?

So many questions, not enough answers. Just like this damn war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish I could've extended Sakura's part, but I couldn't really think of where to go from there. Maybe I'll have them run into each other later. Now all that's left is for Leon to meet his double for the first time and watch the shitshow unfold :'D
> 
> And hopefully I won't take as long to update orz


End file.
